Purpose::
The Wnt pathway is an essential signaling cascade that mediatesretinal development and is a critical regulator of cell survivalin many tissues. Our research and others’ suggest thatWnt signaling may be involved in retinal degenerations, butits precise role in disease remains to be determined. In thisstudy, we tested the hypothesis that Wnt signaling is a pro-survivalpathway that is activated during retinal degeneration.

Conclusions::
Our data indicate that Wnt signaling is activated in degeneratingretina and protects retinal cultures from oxidative stress.We propose that Wnt activation, alone or in combination withgrowth factors, may increase the threshold for apoptosis andhalt or delay further photoreceptor degeneration.